Highlights of 2013

The year 2013 was filled with great moments for the African Cashew Alliance. It was very difficult to pick our favorite ones!

January

Condor Nuts signs on for ACA Seal, expanding program in East Africa. They joined Southern Jumbo Cashew, the first East African processor to begin the ACA Seal program.

Miriam Gyamfi was hired as the Marketing and Conference Coordinator. 

February  

Newly formed Guinea Cashew Alliance (Alliance Guinéenne de l’Acajou – AGA) signs partnership agreement with ACA to promote a sustainable cashew industry in Guinea.  Mr. Sidikiba of AGA remarks that the overriding vision of the new organization is “Promoting a cashew nut industry in Guinea, beneficial for all, from the producer to the consumer, along the value chain from the pitchfork to the fork”.

Tolaro Global reapproved for the ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal

In February 2012, Tolaro Global became the first ever ACA Seal-approved processor. This February, it reached another milestone by becoming the first ACA Seal-approved processor to be re-approved. This re-approval re-affirmed Tolaro Global's status as a processing facility that successfully implements all 14 Food Safety and Quality procedures, ensuring a high quality output of kernels.

March

ACA to conduct Cashew Processing Factory Feasibility Study for Tanzania Investment Bank

ACA entered into an agreement with the Tanzania Investment Bank, after being awarded a contract to produce a Feasibility Study and Business Plan for a cashew-processing factory near Newala, Tanzania. The factory, owned by Tandahimba-Newala Cooperative Union (TANECU), would process nuts from over 80,000 farmers represented by TANECU.

April

ACA Awarded $1.2M USAID Grant!

ACA received finalGDA partners at the INC Conference in Barcelona, May 2013

confirmation that is has been awarded a USAID Global Development Alliance grant of over $1.2 M. The funds will support a two-year program entitled “Leveraging Cashew Business for Poverty Reduction.” Improving rural livelihoods by increasing the competitiveness of cashew processing in West Africa is the primary goal of the program. Activities under the grant will leverage the expertise and financial support of several partner organizations, including Kraft Foods, Intersnack, Olam, and Red River Foods. Receiving this award is a huge achievement for ACA, and will enable expansion of the Seal program, growth in volumes of raw cashew processed in the region, and improved market access for African stakeholders.  Within the two-year time span of the project, ACA’s work is expected to result in additional income of $10M for rural communities and create 3,200 new jobs in the cashew industry. 

Peter Kojo Nyarko joined the team on the 2nd of April 2013, as the ACA Seal Coordinator.

Olivier Kabré joined the team on the 3rd of April, 2013 as the ACA’s MIS and Monitoring Coordinator.

May

Anatrans Sarl Officially Awarded ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal

On May 17, 2013, Anatrans, located in Burkina Faso, became the third company to be officially certified under the ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal Program.

Jungle Nuts is the fourth processor to be awarded the ACA Seal

Jungle Nuts, a cashew processor located in Thika, Kenya, was the 4th ACA member to be ACA Seal approved. Jungle Nuts, owned by Patrick Wainaina, ACA Executive Committee member, was the first factory to be ACA Seal certified during its initial assessment, as well as the first Seal-approved company in East Africa.

June

Lights, Camera, CASHEW! ACA produces film to promote the African cashew industry

The film, shot during the month of June, dispalys how the processing industry adds value through job creation, foreign investment, and services. The film is a tribute to the work ACA has done, with the support of its many donors and partner organizations.

July

ACA excels at U.S sponsored Aid for Trade Side Event

Georgette Taraf, ACA President, Partheeban Theodore, Advisory Board member and Vice President & Head of Export Operations at Olam Internation, and Arie Endendijk, Managing Director of Intersnack Procurement at Intersnack Group, represented the ACA at a U.S. sponsored event in Geneva, Switzerland.  The event was part of the WTO’s 4th Review of Aid for Trade.

August

A Change in Leadership – Continuation of a Vision

The ACA bid farewell to long-time Managing Director, Christian Dahm.  When Christian began his work at ACA in 2008, the organization was in its infancy as a project under the wing of the USAID-West Africa Trade Hub. With the support of several mentors in Ghana and the cashew industry as a whole, Christian soon became a cashew expert in his own right. With his business acumen, development experience, international background, and infectious motivation, Christian helped catalyze what will undoubtedly be heralded as a new era in the African cashew industry – the emergence of quality cashew, grown and processed in Africa, onto the international market.

The African Cashew Alliance welcomed Roger T. Brou as the new Managing Director.  Brou joined the team after years of experience in agribusiness project finance and bank-to-bank finance, and previously worked for the West Africa Trade Hub as the Business & Finance Director.

September 

The ACA World Cashew Festival and Expo 2013 brings together over 350 in Accra, Ghana

From the 16-19th of September over 350 representatives from the cashew industry gathered together in Accra, Ghana to build new partnerships and exchange knowledge about the cashew industry.  The event was ACA’s 8th annual conference and it served to once again strengthen the African cashew industry through knowledge sharing and market linkages. It was announced that next year’s annual ACA conference will be held in Kenya, bringing it to East Africa after a couple of years in the Western region of the continent.

Another Factory Joins ACA’s Elite

Equatorial Nut Processors, located in Muranga, Kenya, became the  5th  Kernel Processor in Africa to be ACA SEAL approved and the second Factory in East Africa to receive approval .

October

ACA SEAL: Pioneering uncharted Waters

The  the ACA SEAL team,  made  up of Kojo Nyarko (SEAL Coordinator) and Jim Giles (Food Safety and Quality expert) conducted a pilot  audit  of a SEAL   approved factory  with a food safety Systems  auditor  from  Bureau Veritas Kenya. The objective of this exercise was to benchmark and improve the ACA seal procedures with regards to ISO 22000 ( ISO Standard for food Safety).  This Pilot audit was the first step in the development of future collaboration with Bureau Veritas on the ACA SEAL program  for Cashew Kernel Processors. 

Madame Taraf Honored as one of Africa's Most Influential Women in Business and Government

Madame Taraf was selected as a finalist in the agriculture category for her work in the cashew industry in Benin and with the African Cashew Alliance.  She was then chosen as one of five winners for the agriculture category on the continent, the only one representing her home country of Benin.  Even among an elite group of women working in Agriculture throughout Africa, Madame Taraf shined, eventually receiving the Agriculture award for the entire continent.

November

Second Re-approval of the ACA Seal

Mim Cashew and Agricultural Products, Ltd. (MCAP), located in Mim, Ghana is the second ACA Seal RE-approved processor.  MCAP was able to demonstrate compliance with the ACA SEAL standards, therefore the facility retained their status of being ACA SEAL approved.

December

Cajou Espoir Meets Seal Standards

Located  at Tchamba Togo, Cajou Espoir has been  blazing  the trail  for Cashew  processing  in Togo, in terms of Quality and Processing  capacity expansion. Cajou Espoir demonstrated enough evidence to indicate their compliance to the SEAL standards , confirming their  place amongst  an  elite group of SEAL  approved factories  on the African continent . They join this group as the 6th ACA Seal approved processor.